Breaking
New Ground January 1964: Minoru Yamasaki
unveils his design for the World Trade Center, a plan originally
hatched by Chase Manhattan Bank president David Rockefeller and
backed by his brother, Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller. Because of
his extreme fear of heights, Yamasaki is an odd choice for the project,
but he copes with his vertigo by designing the building so that
windows are no more than roughly 20 inches wide -- less than the
width of his shoulders.August 5, 1966: Ground is broken
on the construction of the Twin Towers.